AGONY OF JESUS IN GARDEN OF
GETHSEMANE
Jesus, the Son of Mary and the most
High God, concludes the Last Supper where He has given us two great gifts, two
Sacraments for our salvation: Holy Orders(The Priesthood), and the most Holy
Eucharist. Let us beg Our Lady for the grace of an overflowing gratitude for
these two great gifts--- Holy Communion and the means to transform bread and
wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood—Holy Orders (The Priesthood).
GARDEN WITH JESUS. Now let us beg Our
Lady for the grace to accompany Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Adam and Eve
committed Original sin in a Garden; Jesus would suffer intensely in another
Garden so as to repair for the sins of Adam and Eve as well as all of humanity
and each and every one of our sins in particular.
ENTER THE DEPTHS. May Our Lady help us to enter into the
Passion and suffering of Jesus her Son and Our Lord and God. Mary always had
Jesus in her Immaculate Heart and constantly in her thoughts. Let us beg Our
Lady for the same grace: to constantly be thinking of Jesus, what He is going
through and what He wants of me.
JESUS AND HIS WEAK FRIENDS. Jesus enters into the Garden and it is dark
Darkness is symbolic of sin. Judas left Jesus and entered into darkness. He
purposely has taken with Him three of His best friends—Peter, James, and John.
He wanted them to be with Him in His suffering. COMPASSION. He wanted them to
share now, at least to a limited degree, in His suffering. Compassion is the
virtue that teaches us to suffer with those who suffer. Only second to Jesus
was Our Lady capable of such deep
compassion. Our Lady had deep compassion, a heart-felt suffering for Jesus in His
agony. His friends, however, failed Him
by falling asleep. How often have I
fallen into sleep in my prayer; or worse yet: how often have I failed to get
out of bed to pray when Jesus was inviting me into communion with Him in
prayer? May Our Lady, through her powerful prayers, attain for us the grace to
be faithful in prayer at all times, even when the going gets tough! Saint
Ignatius teaches us that when we are in desolation we should be exceptionally
faithful to prayer, meditation, examination of conscience and even do a little
penance to conquer the desolation. This is spiritual warfare that we are
engaged in until the end of our lives.
FERVOR IN PRAYER. Jesus did not pray a mediocre, anemic,
lukewarm, tepid or distracted prayer. On the contrary, Jesus prayed with all of
His heart, mind, body, soul, and emotions. Jesus gave His all in prayer. How often has my prayer been done
half-heartedly, with little fervor and faith. I lack fire! Jesus said that he came to cast fire on the
earth and that He is not at peace until that fire be enkindled. Paintings of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and
the Immaculate Heart of Mary depict them with their Hearts surrounded by thorns,
but also fire is emanating from their hearts. FIRE. What does this fire mean? What does this fire
symbolize? Very clearly it symbolizes an
overflowing love for all of us, but also a fervor and passion for God through
deep prayer. When we pray let us humbly
beg Our Lady for some of this fire. On
Pentecost (where Our Lady was present with the Apostles in prayer for nine
days) the Holy Spirit came down in fire so as to enlighten the minds of the
Apostles and also to set their hearts on fire with love of God and desire to
save souls.
JESUS SWEATS BLOOD. Jesus’ prayer was so intense that he
actually shed big drops of Blood. The
Precious Blood that was given to Jesus through His most Holy Mother Mary came
oozing out of His pores and trickling to the ground. This Precious Blood of
Jesus was given to Jesus through the humanity of Mary. May Our Lady help us to
nourish our souls constantly on the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of
Jesus frequently in Holy Communion.
WHY THE SWEATING OF BLOOD. In the
Garden Jesus became the Victim to repair for the sins of all of humanity as
well as all of us individually. Jesus as
Victim took the sins of all of humanity upon Himself. All of the sins of the world came raining
down upon Jesus like a torrential downpour of rain. The sins of Adam and Eve,
our first parents, the sins of the past, the present and even of the future
rained down on the Body and soul of Jesus like a deluge. From this Blood came
gushing forth from His Sacred Body.
EYES AND HEART OF MARY. With the eyes and the Heart of Mary enter
into the Sacred and sorrowful Heart of Jesus. With Our Lady try to console
Jesus in His mortal agony. Through Our
Lady’s intercession beg the Lord Jesus pardon for all of the sins of the world.
Beg Our Lady for true sorrow for your own sins of the past. Beg Our Lady for a
heart filled with love and sorrow for the sins of your relatives, especially
your spouse, your sons and daughters, even the sins of your parents and
relatives. Draw close to Jesus through the eyes, mind and heart of Mary. Nobody
ever knew Jesus better than His own Mother, Mary most holy.
INDIFFERENCE/APATHY. Unfortunately, one
of the greatest sources of sorrow that pierced the Heart of Jesus in His Sacred
Passion was the cold indifference of so many souls, and even many Catholics,
worse yet, many souls who have consecrated their lives to Jesus and His
Kingdom. The Book of Revelation warns
us with these stark words: “I know your
works; I know that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either hot or
cold. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out
of my mouth.(Rev. 3:15-16) What pierces the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
profoundly is an attitude of coldness, indifference, apathy, a “Whatever” or “who
cares” attitude towards God and His Kingdom. May Our Lady attain for us true
repentance and a passion for Jesus and His Kingdom as well as for the salvation
of immortal souls. One soul is worth more than the whole created universe.
ANGEL OF CONSOLATION. In the midst of
the intense sorrow of Jesus that actually caused Him to sweat Blood, God sent
Jesus consolation by sending Jesus and angel. Now in this graphic contemplation
of Jesus in His agony beg Our Lady for the grace that you can be this angel of
consolation to Jesus. Tell Jesus, through Our Lady’s prayers, that you truly
love Him. Tell Jesus that you desire ardently to renounce all in your life that
has offended Him. Beg Our Lord as you console Him to be more faithful to Him
than you have ever been in your life. Beg Our Lady for the grace to grow in an
ever deeper Friendship with Jesus.